On the one hand... it is just drawings of a character that has been given a certain age by whoever drew it. And it's better that having photos of real children. On the other hand, if it's illegal to depict minors in sexual situations... then it's illegal.

Infants in diapers though... that sounds pretty young to me. Actually, it sounds pretty wrong.

That said, a lot of manga gets itself in trouble for aging the characters so they are in school - to appeal to school kids, cos then the characters are of similar age, have same experiences etc - but having them have really mature attitudes, outlook and 'adventures' that no schoolkid would ever really have. Sometimes that includes rude stuff. But I'm not as... I dunno - stern? disapproving of? stuff like that because to all extents and purposes, that character is simply an adult character who has been given a certain age. Like the main character in Kiddy Grade. No way is she 16. So lusting after her doesn't seem so bad. (Not that I find myself doing that frequently)

I don't really know what to think really. I mean, I'm not for legalising it, that's for sure.

Edited to add - I'm sure if I had kids I would think very differently about it.

i personally see it as wrong from a moral standpoint but i don't think it's as bad as the real thing becasue it's just drawings of the offensive stuff, rather than the material itself so no children were harmed. the offender is obviously not right in the head, but this case itself doesn't necessarily show that he's a danger to children. that said, i don't approve of it.

it all falls down to the lines of, its a cartoon, you should never do what cartoons show u.

Reading/owning Lolicon is not in itself paedophilia, it's not real and no children were hurt in its creation. It's the sort of material that would only appeal to a actual paedophile or someone with those leanings. A line has to be drawn somewhere and it has to be connected more to your actions not with what is on your bookshelf. If I have a book on the 'Art of the Ninja' for example, which shows you, in graphic detail how to kill someone in clod blood, does that make me a murderer?

I am sure such Lolicon trash would classify as an 'Obscene Publication' however and the owner/trader should be prosecuted as such.

Sicko/s who get their rocks off with material like that need help, they are mentally ill.

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No matter how far a jackass travels, it won't come back a horse.

You're kind of contradicting yourself, Primate, I don't know what you mean. Do you mean that it's okay to have lolicon or not? Cos your argument about the ninja book confuses me, it makes it sound like you think they should be banned too.